Sealing machine



Oct. 2, l1945. i w, STELZER 2,385,951

sEALlNG NmHIlmv I s Filed March 24, 1942 2 sheets-shet 1 L `IN VEN TOR.

Patented Oct. 2, 1945 SEALING MACHINE William Stelzer, Detroit, Mich., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Stoiel Seals Company,

New York Incorporated, NewV York, N.

Y., a corporation ofV Application March 24, 1942, Serial No. 435,953

6 Claims.

This invention relates to sealing machines and more particularly to a machine for aflixing two part seals to strings or the like where said two part seals consisting of a cup and a disc are directed and applied to the string .by a feeding mechanism for attaching said seals in a speedy manner. Y

The invention pertains particularly to a seal consisting of a cup shaped member or capsule and a disc member where the string is placed:

between the cup shaped member and the disc .member and the rim of said cup shaped member is then crimped over to lock and seal the string, Y

The object of the invention is toprovide a simplified and improved feeding mechanism for the cup shaped member and to improve the means for crimping the cup shaped member.

A further object is to improve the clutch mechanism as well as the control means fory actuating the crimping mechanism by means of a source of power. The invention also aims at certain safety and interlocking means to improve the dependability and safety of the mechanism.

conformsy with the. back of :said cup ,'I, and is adaptedtoslide 4or reciprocate: in a, bore 9 of Other advantages and features of the mwen-@ tion will appear by examination of the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view (partly in section) of the sealing machine with the side cover removed.

- 'Fig. 2, a front elevation thereof showing thev iront end partly in section.

Fig. 3, a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing a cross section through the track or railway which guides the sealing cups to the crimping mechanism, showing a cup which is not yet lined up with the track. i

Fig. 4, a cross section. similar to Fig. 3 but showing a cup in proper position on the track.

Fig. 5, a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

'Fig 6, a cross sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2 of the hopper mechanism to illustrate the principle of asserting and selecting the cups to be fed to the crimping mechanism.

Fig. '7.a sectional view similar to Fig. 6 but 45 illustrating the principle of rejecting a cup which is not in the proper position to enter the track.

Describing the invention now more in detail and referring in particular yto Fig. 1, there is shown a housing or framel 4 to which all the component parts are connected, or housed therein.

The crimping mechanism consists of a die 5 -having an annular curling groove by means of which the rim of the cup shaped member or A capsule v'I is curled over.

8 designates a punch whose lower extremity housing 4. Y Y

The upper end of punch 8 has attached thereto, a rod end I0 pivotally connected atv II to an actuating lever I2,l rotatable about` a. stud I3 rigidly secured to housing 4. v The other-.extremity of lever Al2 has a rollerypreferably of lthe anti-friction type, I4 in rolling engagement with an eccentric |15, revolvablez about-a clutch gear I6 keyed'to-a drive shaft I'I which may be driven at a low speed by any suitablermean's, preferablyA a standard speed reduction unit which is' not shown in order not to encumber the` drawing-as any type of speed reductionunit .may be used. The eccentric I5-has a pawl I8 pivoted,v at I9 and urged to engage clutch gear I6 by, a .leaf spring 20 held in position by a pin ZI-'and stop pin 22.y

`sleeve Y24 which serves asa pilot for `die .5 and guide for ejector. pin 23. Ejector pinv 23 isvurged into its upper position -by a spring 25 seated in a vrecessgin stop 26 which `determines the lower position of the ejector pin when depressed during the sealing operation- Within said ejector `pin 23 is a slidable pin or ejector pin 2 1 having a head atthe top to be flush withthe top surface of the ejector pin 23-when urged to` its retracted position by retracting spring 28 retained by'anut 29, for thevfree movement ofv which Vstop 26 has a holeand slotlori one side which also accommodates lever-.30 which isy pivoted to the housing 4- at 3l ,and serves to actuate said pin 21 to eject or raise the completed seal ata moment when a new disc is placed on ejector -pin -23. Lever 3Il-atitsrother extremity has:` an extension 32 abutting against stop 33 extending from housing 4. Lever 30 is actuated by -1ink`34 pivotallyvconnected to lever I2 and urged Vinto contact with, stop 33 by a springv35. The-.lower extremity of said link y34'Y is 4adapted to pass through a slot in lever 30, Where the latter kis shown in section to provide a better illustration. The surface of link 34 in contactk with stop 33vis of'afcam shape so that when the linkY isin its upward position its-lower extremityabuts against the upper surface of lever 30-at 36,;but is pushed into the slot at a point during itsdescension.

v To control the operation ofthe machine by the operator, i. e., to-engage the-clutch-*I provide a tripA lever 3'I pivotedatf38 andV rigdlyconnected withlever 33 to forma` bellcrank urged against',A ystop 40 by a spring 4I.A '*Ihe lower extremiti' of Yleverv 39. has la slot. weniger-.11.11342 In order thatthe sealing mechanism can loper... ate only one complete sealing cycleafter it has been released by the operator I provide a lug 41 extending from lever 30 to throw link 42 out'of ing. As the position of the slots when the cup is passing through opening 62 is haphazard I provide a slope on which the cup rolls until the slots registerwith track or rail 68 and the cup slides downward without turning. The slope consists of a guide 69 on which the cup rolls, a spacer 10 engagement with leverY 39 during the operation" when lever 30 Vis actuated to eject the finished Seal.

provide a magazine consisting of a tube 48 where; in the discs 49 are placed and held down in. contact with the die or feeding mechanism by aconvenient plunger 50, which is suitable for easily loading said discs into the easily removable tube 48. The discs may be furnished in a paper container which may be inserted into tubing 48 and then forced out of the container by means of plunger 50. To push the discs 49 from said mag'- azine 48 onto ejector pin 23 I provide al feeder blade having a lug 52 attached thereto torbe engaged by an arm 53 extending from lever I2. The power for the feeding operation is provided by a return spring 54 which also servesY to keep 'roller I4 in engagement with eccentric I5.

lThe means for feeding the'cup shaped members in proper order to the crimping mechanism consists of a hopper 55 which is secured to the'A top portion of housing 4 and which is of a semicircular shape to accommodate a blade 56 attached to a lever 51 securely mounted on a shaft 58 rotatable in hopper housing A55 and operated by a lever arm 59 whose outer end is connected to a connecting rod 60 which transmits an oscillatory movement from lever I2 'to lever 51. VThe Yhopper housing 55 is openat the top and receives a supply of sealing cups which it feeds in proper order to the crimping mechanism.V Blade 56 is positioned at an angle whereby upper edge 6I declines towards opening 62 in the side wall 63 of the hopper housing 55. `This inclination serves to urge 'a sealing cup positioned on this upper edge to roll towards exit 62 as illustrated/in Fig. 2. The sealing cups arerconstructed with two diametrically opposed slots 64 to accommodate the 'string or wire to which the seal is attached. To properly position the cups in the die it is necessary to provide some means for directing and positioning the cups and for rejecting cups which are not in the right position. ment of this invention I employ a principle uti-` lizing the eccentricity of the center of gravity'l to select the cups. Referring to Fig. '2 showing a cup'1 raised in the desired position on upper edge 6I of blade 56, the center of gravity denoted by line `6'5 is inside of Vthe point of support so that the Vcup leans against the wall of hopper housing 55 and is permitted to roll towards opening; 62 in a direction of rotation indicated by arrow 66. If a cup is Vpositioned on edge 6I facing in the wrong direction as shown in Fig. '1 the center of gravity is outside of the point of support whereby the cup' loses'its balance and falls tothe bottom of hopper housing 55.

The string which extends frm the article or'y package to b sealed is placed transversely across die 5 to lit into slots 61. Therefore, the cups have to be fed into the die with their slots in a In the embodi- To feed the discs to the diefin propererderrfi interposed between said track and said guide, and

ya guide member 1I (shown in section in Figs. 3

and 4). The guiding surfaces are inclined obliquely in a lateral direction so that the cup has a tendency to lean against guide 1I and spacer A 19. to urge the slots 64 of cup 1 to engage track 6,6. This `is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. Guide .69 is. spaced suliiciently from track 68 to allow passage of the cup eventhough the slots are not engaged with the track. I have found that the obliquity of the guide in a transverse direction vshould be vapproximately 30 degrees in order to fixed relation thereto. To accomplish this it is which saidslots fit to prevent'the cups from turn..

provide engagement of the cup with the track and to provide a suiicient rolling action before engagement. However, this angle varies with the height of the rim and the diameter of the cup.v In order'that no cup can pass to the curling mechanism that is not lined up with the track I provide an opening 12 which permits a cup not engaged in the track to fall out, for which purpose an auxiliary container may be provided but which is not shown on the drawing. 'I'he lower extremity of guide 69 is twisted to conform with track 68 to prevent cups moving down from falling out. The track B8 Which yis clamped between guide 1I and spacer 'I0 is made of one con- -tinuous piecerand secured to housing 4 at 13.

Guide 14 serves to retain the cups in positionand is'secured to housing 4 by means of screws 15. It is preferablev that track 68 extends as far as possible to the bore 9 to properly guide `the cups.

When the plunger is in the top or off position as shown in Fig. 2, the lower-most cup is forced into bore 9 by the weightY ofthe column of cups'. As it is'dillicult to provide an opening 16 only on one side of the housing, in this preferred embodiment I extend this opening through the housing t'osimplify the machine, therefore, it is necessary to provide a'stop 11 which is preferably'magnetized to hold the cup in position. To keep the cup inrbore 9 from falling down when th'e punch 8 descends it is preferable to magnetize the latter when ferrous cups are used.

Having just described the construction of the novel mechanism I will now illustrate the operation of same. Assuming the machine is in the -olf position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with cups placed in hopper 55, and the magazine 48 provi'ded with discs 49, the operator places a string or the like extending from the package or article to be sealed'through slots 61 and onto disc 49; then he depresses lever 31 manually which turns st op lever 43 in a counterclockwise direction through VVthe intermediary of link 42 whereby pawl I8 is released from its forced position and urged into engagement with clutch gear I6 by spring 20. As drive shaft I1 and clutch'gear I6 slowly revolve lin a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. l, the clutch gear I6 picks up pawl I8 and with it the eccentric I5 so that these elements'revolve as one entire unit in a counterclockwise direction forcing roller I4 upwardly 'and pressing punch or plunger 8 downward. The latter picks up cup 1 and forces it downward r'through bore 9 onto disc 49 which is adapted to fit inside of said disc or capsule 1. While plunger vposition'as shown in Fig. 1.

the rim rof the cupcomes in contact with the annular groove 6'of thecrimping die-5 the'rim is being curled over and inwardly, sealing the disc and the string. i

During the final downward movement of punch or plunger v8, the ejector pin 23 isdepressed until it comes in contact with stop 26 which serves to buildup the resistance at the end of the stroke and to maintain the proper shape of the cup or seal. At this stage of the cycle `link 34 is in its upper position and therefore above abutment 36 of lever 30. Y Arm 53 ofV lever I2 is at'the extremity of its stroke towards the right so that the blade 5I is pulling away from the column of discs 49 so that the latter are permitted to fall down a distance equal to the thickness of one disc.

During the downward stroke of plunger 8, connecting rod 60'is pushed upwardly to rotate lever 51 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig.

v1. Thereby the cups in hopper. housing- 55 are agitated and some ofl the cups fall in front of the pickup edge 6I.'` f v As drive shaft I1 and with it eccentric I5 `revolve continuously, yspring 54 urges the rement with lever 30 whereby the lift pin 21 by` virtue of its spring 28 returns to its original position as shown in Fig. 1. However, before this releasing operation takes place the actuation of lever 30 by means of link 34 causes link 42 to disengage from trip lever 31 due to the projection 41 extending from lever 30 which forces link 42 downwardly. As soon as link 42 is disengaged from lever 31 spring 45 returns the stop lever 43 to return to its original or ofi positon as shown in Fig. 1. During the upward movement of punch 8 the operator removes the nished seal from the machine.

In the hopper the feed lever 51 is returned towards the original position as shown in Fig. 1 by means of the connecting rod 60. The cups or capsules which have been lying in front of the pickup edge 6I are pushed upwardly along the surface until they are in a position similar to that shown in Fig. 6 or '7. It is possible that a plurality of cups are in front of the pickup edge 6I, but the excess is urged to fall downward due to the peculiar shape of the upper edge of hopper housing 55. As blade 56 reaches the upper position, cups that are in a position similar to that shown in Fig. 6 roll towards exit 62 to enter the umn of cups. At the same time the eccentric I5 and clutch gear I6 reach a position as indicated in. Fig. 1 and the rearward extremity of pawl I8 I comes in contact with stop lever 43 to be thrown Vout of engagement with clutch gear I6. The arrangement of a leaf spring between stop pin 22 and'pawl I8 affords a smoother stopping action and eliminates any noise which otherwise `accompanies such an operation. As the pawl is thrown out of engagement the eccentric is auto- ;matically stopped in a fixed position as shown in Fig. 1 though the drive shaft I1 continues to revolve; The mechanism is now in its oif position' as shown on the drawings and is ready for the next sealing cycle.

Itmay be observed that even though the operator would not release his grip on the trip lever 3'1, `themechanismis disengaged from the drive shaft after'the cycle is completed due to the action' ofthe arm 41 and link 42 which has been described hereinbefore.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with seals disclosed and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 430,057 filed February 9, 1942, pertaining to a cup or Acapsuler of cylindrical shape having diametrically opposed slots, and disc adapted to fit into 'said cup. However, it is apparent that the method of selectingV and vrejecting the cups in the hopper mechanism can be applied to other types of capsules or sealing cupswith, or without slots. I wish to make it understood that by the term. string I wish to designate any type of medium such as a cord, thread, wire, or the like of any material and Iam using the term string only for the purpose of simplicity, and as an example.

It is apparent that the invention can be carried out in ways different from that shown, without departing from the principle of the invention.

Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the emtrack or railway. Cups which are in a position similar to that Ashown in Fig. '1 lose their balance due to the eccentricity of the center of gravity and fall down as indicated by arrow 18. After passing through exit 62 the cup 1 rolls downward on guide 69 in a direction indicated by arrow 19. As soon as slots 64 register with track 68 the cup falls against guide 1I and spacer 10 and slides downward without revolving until it joins the column of cups held in line by the guided track.

As soon as plunger 8 nears its upper position it uncovers opening 16 leading to bore 9 and permits the lower-most cup on the track to venter bore 5, urged by the head, or weight, of the colbodiment shown either in the construction or in the scope ofthe invention, except by the terms of the appended claims,

I claim:

1. An automatic machine for aflixing the cup and disc of a seal to a string placed in said machine, said cup having diametrically opposed slots in its rim to accommodate said string, comprising a crimping die and a cooperating punch adapted to crimp the rim of said cup over said disc, means for reciprocating said punch, means for feeding said disc to a position on said crimping die, a hopper adapted to contain a supply of cups, a feed member -arranged in said hopper having an inclined pick-up edge to raise cups to a position from where they may roll towards said amxing die, means for operating said feed member, an inclined railway leading from said hopper to said aflixing die to direct cups raised by said pick-up edge into said afflxing die, said hopper being positioned at a higher level than said amxing die, said railway comprising rails to guide said cups, and having an inclined portion which is also inclined laterally to urge said cups rolling downwardly into a laterally oblique position to fall into engagement with one of said rails when said slots are lined up therewith during the rolling motion, whereby said cups slideto said afflxing die by force of their own weight in the desired position.

2. An automatic sealing machine for alilxing the cup and disc of a seal to a string or the like, said cup having diametrically opposed slots to accommodate said string, and said disc fitting the vrim'of said cup over said disc with said string interposed, a;yie1ding'member co-axial with' and slidable in said die to press said disc rmly against said cup while `the rim of said cup is crimped over, an ejector v'pin' '-slidably. arranged in the center of said yielding 'member to lift up the nished seal when secured to said string to facilitate the feeding of another disc to said die, a punch cooperating with said'dierto force said Vcup into said die vto crimp over the rim of said cup, a lever onto saidyielding member in said die, means operated byY said eccentric to actuate Vsaid feed `member, a railway secured to said frame 'and extending upwardly to support a supply of cups lined upthereon in an orderly fashion to`be guidedby same, the `lower end of said railway 'leading near a point intermediate said punch and said die, a top to arrest 'the lowermost cup to revmain .in the path of Vtravel of said punch to be picked up by the latter before entering said die, ahopper adaptedto contain a supply of cups, said hopper being arranged at the'upper -extremityv of said railway, `and means for rfeeding cups from. said hopper onto said railway.

3. The construction as claimed in claim 2 where the lower portionof said railway is'inA as horizontal position whereby one cup ata timeisY pushed into the path of said punch due toxthe weightv of said supply of cups positioned on said yrailway which is extending upwardly.

4. The construction as claimed in claim 2, 'a clutch intermediate said drive shaft vand said eccentric, and manually operated means to engage said clutch. s

5. The construction asv claimed in claim .2, a clutch intermediate said drive shaft and said eccentric, manually operated means to engage said clutch, and automatic throwout means to disengage said clutch after one revolution of said eccentric at the end of a sealing cycle. 4

6. The construction as claimed in claim 2 where said lever has a transversely disposed arm operatively engaging said feed member and arranged to move the latter in a disc feeding direction relative to the retractile movement of said punch.

Y WILLIAM-STELZER.. 

